BobsCNC Evolution 4 - Any good?

Hi - I'm a designer with a small exhibition design company. We have been outsourcing our CNC needs for a few years and can see the benefits of bringing our production in-house. We are talking about cutting relatively small (all smaller than A3) flat panels for small products. I need to be able to profile cut dibond, hylite, High Impact Polystyrene and possible thin ply (sheet materials usually 3 to 6mm but maybe occasionally thicker ply). So I really only need a desktop machine. I'm looking at the BobsCNC Evolution 4. Does anyone have any experience with this machine? Pros? Cons? Thanks in advance for any help or advice. Cheers. Mac

Hi Mac,

I don't know or have experience with that particular machine but I do design and build routers so can see many issues with it.
Now I don't want to start pulling it down but what I will say is that if you plan to use the machine for business use then this machine will only cause you stress and potential lost work.

To be honest most of the machines at this price point, ie Work bee, Shapeoko, etc are all better avoided if you are using them for business purposes as they are comprised of cheap components and weak flimsy designs. They are low-level hobby machines that are great for learning on but for anything serious they quickly show their weaknesses which can be disastrous and very costly for a business.

The problem with CNC is that while you may have low-level or small needs now they can and often do quickly grow when you start to realize what can be done with them and the old imagination kicks into top gear, which with my experience working with design type people often happens very quickly.
This often leads to new products and new avenues of business that generate new sales and the last thing you want in these situations is breakdowns or has is often the case a machine that quickly becomes sloppy when it's made to work hard. These low-level machines can not handle being worked hard and when pushed they quickly wear out and become sloppy causing all kinds of issues from poor accuracy to constant breakdowns.

If you intend to use it for business purposes then my advice is don't waste your money on these low-level machines.
If you just want to learn and not mission-critical and happy to put up with constant tweaking and adjusting to maintain accuracy to keep them running then they are fine.

For anything decent then expect to pay £3k minimum.

Also if you are mostly cutting thin sheets then you'll need to think about work holding and probably using a vacuum system to hold the work down to stop it from lifting. Cutting thin materials can be challenging when it comes to work holding as it tries to lift when being cut, esp if the part doesn't have any holes in it which you can use to hold to the bed using screws or clamps, etc.
Holding work using Vacuum is a very common method on thin materials as it grabs and holds them flat stopping them from lifting when being cut, the downside is that a vacuum setup can add quite a chunk of money to the total cost of the machine but in some cases, with very thin materials like veneers it's a must-have feature.

Hope this helps.

Hi JAZZCNC,

Thanks so much for your thoughts, really helpful. Initially we would be looking at small run stuff and prototyping so, as you say, perhaps useful to learn on. I guess we could always sell the machine if/when we needed to upgrade. I certainly take your point however regarding the lower level machines becoming sloppy - that is a concern. I have a few more questions if you don't mind and are able to comment? 1. If you HAD to buy one of these 'entry level' machines, what would you be watching out for? 2. Have you an idea of which make you would consider? 3. If you were to advise on a type of machine that would be more likely to suit our needs at this point, what would you suggest? Thanks again - time and any thoughts much appreciated. Cheers, Mac.

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Originally Posted by Mackie

Hi JAZZCNC,

Thanks so much for your thoughts, really helpful. Initially we would be looking at small run stuff and prototyping so, as you say, perhaps useful to learn on. I guess we could always sell the machine if/when we needed to upgrade. I certainly take your point however regarding the lower level machines becoming sloppy - that is a concern. I have a few more questions if you don't mind and are able to comment? 1. If you HAD to buy one of these 'entry level' machines, what would you be watching out for? 2. Have you an idea of which make you would consider? 3. If you were to advise on a type of machine that would be more likely to suit our needs at this point, what would you suggest? Thanks again - time and any thoughts much appreciated. Cheers, Mac.

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No problem, For learning yes ok, but it will be an expensive lesson as these cheap machines lose money very quickly. Often it's better to just save up or find the extra as it will workout much cheaper long term. Not just in the machine saving but other hidden things like tool breakage, material waste, loss of time, etc. These things quickly add up and cancel any savings of buying the cheap machines. Then you have re-sale value, if you buy wisely then you can often make money or come out even if things don't work out.

But here's my answers to your questions.

#1: I wouldn't.!!. . . . I would save up and buy something better.
#2: Probably the Work Bee if I was really really desparate.
#3: PM sent.